It has been over a year since King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard released their last studio album, which for the Australian collective is somewhat of an eternity. In eight years the band have released 16 studio albums which vary greatly both stylistically and thematically. The majority of these releases can be described as psychedelic rock, yet excursions into heavy metal, blues and jazz are simply part of the package. However, each record does largely stick to one of these genres. The group are yet to take the Ween route of cramming as many styles into one record as possible. Nonetheless, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s output during the 2010s saw the release of some of the wildest, most adventurous rock music the decade had to offer. There was the four part odyssey Quarters!, the never-ending maze of Nonagon Infinity, and 2019’s anti-power, environmentally minded science-fiction rock opera Infest the Rat’s Next, which was every bit as entertaining as one could imagine.

Sadly, this does not prevent this from being one of the band’s most hit and miss albums to date, although it still has highlights that are reminiscent of what makes King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard so appealing

Going into any new release from a band as prolific as this brings into question what bizarre ideas will be brought to the table this time around? Their latest record K.G. sees the band return to the microtonality of 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana. One of five records released by the group in that year, it is widely celebrated by fans and critics as one of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s most creative projects, which for this band is saying something. Courtesy of custom made guitars, the music strayed away from traditional Western scales into the realms of microtonality, which gave the instrumentals a characteristically Eastern feel. Flying Microtonal Banana was a solid record but in reality, the use of microtonality was relatively fleeting. The album had many admirable qualities, including this adventurous approach to harmony, but it was not the most out there concept the band had every conceived. K.G. is the spiritual sequel to that record and the microtonality is turned up a notch, giving the record a cohesion that its prequel lacks. Sadly, this does not prevent this from being one of the band’s most hit and miss albums to date, although it still has highlights that are reminiscent of what makes King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard so appealing.

The album opens with a short instrumental introduction that is melodically derived from ‘Billabong Valley,’ a Flying Microtonal Banana cut. This launches the record into the first full track ‘Automation.’ The warm fuzz of the guitars are characteristically Gizzard and the microtonal twang gives the track some extra sense of forward motion. But it is the lyrics that make this song so intriguing, seemingly describing the troubling possibility of birthing cyborgs from the breeding of humans and machines? Something like that anyway. Nonetheless, as ridiculous as this all sounds, what makes these moments so entertaining is the group’s ability to use humour to make genuinely interesting arguments. Just like how the lunacy of oligarchs flying into the Sun on Infest the Rats Nest made a genuine point about environmental politics, this bizarre assertion of cyborg creation is both fearful and awestruck by technology, in a way that merges surreal humour and complex ideas in an entertaining way.

The levels of instrumental excitement and lyrical oddness are captured once more on the track ‘Ontology,’ during which vocalist Stu Mackenzie questions seemingly everything, including his literal being. Yet again there are layers to the irony behind these lyrics. The track is attempting to make thoughtful and philosophical points, but also features the line ‘Thinking for yourself/ Is an overrated thing.’ It is as if Stu wants to constantly remind us that this music is not to be taken too seriously. The driving percussion that fills out the space of the mix while pushing the track in an intense direction is reminiscent of some of John Dwyer’s most recent output, only with more direction and a bit more bite to proceedings. There is also a consistently building closing passage which transitions perfectly into the following track ‘Intrasport.’ This track is the most danceable King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have ever sounded, with keys and wah-wah guitar parts that sound like an ‘70s funk band; except with a dose of microtonality. I still don’t have much for you in terms of what these lyrics are actually about. There are theories going around the internet but sometimes it’s more fun just to accept that they are abstract (in a good way) and enjoy the track for what it is, an absolute rager of a microtonal funk cut. The strange breakdown that closes the track brings forward the dance elements even more heavily than before, sounding like an early Chemical Brothers instrumental. Moments like this make it a shame that this album fails to maintain this intensity throughout its 40 minutes, which result in the record intermittently losing steam.

‘Minimum brain size’ should work as a track, but everything is so understated that it becomes almost a strain to hear what Stu is saying. This is indicative of one of the biggest issues with K.G. and that is the mixing. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have always possessed a unique production style but on this record, for whatever reason, the style fails to suit. The track ‘Some of Us’ is this album at its most predictable, featuring a melody that feels forced and almost underwritten. The lyrics are equally underwhelming, simply querying how some people are remembered and others are not. ‘Some, some, some of us see/ Some, some of us don’t,’ is not the most inspiring piece of writing this band are capable of.

The vocal processing and general mixing is so problematic on this record that there are occasions when well written songs become overpowered by the aesthetic the band have aimed for

The vocal processing and general mixing is so problematic on this record that there are occasions when well written songs become overpowered by the aesthetic the band have aimed for. ‘Honey’ is a gentle and enjoyable acoustic track with endearing lyrics about the sweetness of certain individuals making life worthwhile. It is a track that should be more enjoyable than it is, yet this production style is detrimental to that enjoyability. However, some credit should be given to ‘Straws in the Wind,’ one of the few tracks to fully embrace the aesthetic of this record in a way that does not feel out of place. The addition of a sitar to the microtonally minded mix oozes late George Harrison Beatles cuts. Lyrically, there is a return to the environmental aspects of previous King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard albums. In particular, the line ‘Condescending expendables botched to a clock/Novice to the dilemma with nothing clever left in stock’ is something of a genius turn of phrase.

‘Oddlife’ is one of the less melodic moments on the records and it drags badly as a result of this. The track is just short of five minutes in length and features very little material to give each of those minutes some sense of purpose. Closer ‘The Hungry Wolf of Fate’ is similarly light on material and is mostly reliant on a gigantic and distorted guitar riff, which has been so heavily compressed that it is hard not to be shaken by it. It closes the record on a high but is so tiring on the ears that it may just be a case of this song coming too late in the record for it to have the fully intended impact.

So that’s K.G., a mixed bag but with some likeable moments. A band with this variety of output and quantity of albums are always going to come up with the occasional record that underwhelms. Even then, it is not like K.G. is a bad album. There are some very impressive moments scattered across these 40 minutes. It does not match up with some of the band’s best releases, but there is enough here to keep listeners occupied, even if this is not one of the band’s most consistent releases.

Rating: 6/10

 

K.G. is available now via KGLW

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